Hugin, Adolph C.

English

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law

Catholic University Law Review Volume 4 Issue 1 Article 8 1954 ELEMENTS OF PATENT LAW. FRED H. RHOADES.* Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Press, 1949. Pp. ix, 189. $2.75. Adolph C. Hugin Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation Adolph C. Hugin, ELEMENTS OF PATENT LAW. FRED H. RHOADES.* Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Press, 1949. Pp. ix, 189. $2.75., 4 Cath. U. L. Rev. 79 (1954). Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol4/iss1/8 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Catholic University Law Review by an authorized editor of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact edinger@law.edu. BOOK REVIEWELEMENTS OF PATENT LAW. FRED H. RHOADES.* Ithaca, New York:Cornell Univ. Press, 1949. Pp. ix, 189. $2.75.This relatively small book presents many interesting aspects of the law ofpatents on inventions, without delving too profoundly into details which so oftenintimidate general lawyers and law students before they even attempt to under-stand them. It is especially valuable in that the illustrations and explanationsare truly simple, and these are all the more remarkable for a legal text when itis realized that the author is not a patent attorney but a chemist. It is not toowell authenticated by citations of cases and statutes, however, in view of the enact-ment of the Patent Act of 1952 since the publication of this book, this lack ofcitations is not overly important. The new Patent Act, in general, codified the lawrather than revised it, so that the law as explained by the author is still essentiallycorrect.The historical development of patent law also is given, and this, in ameasure, explains the foundation of our patent system. Unfortunately, theauthor repeats an error so often made by writers on the subject when he statesthat the exception of patents on inventions from the operation of the Statute ofMonopolies, 1623, "provides the basis for the British Law of Patents." Thefallacy of this statement often has been clearly pointed out.' It mistakenly givesantitrust advocates who lack a proper knowledge of patent law a point d'appuifrom which they, at times, seek to exert unwarranted pressures regarding certainuses of patents.In the second chapter, which relates to who may apply for a patent, the oldlaw on joint applicants is given. This has been changed by the new Patent Actin order to remove certain inequities in the old law, so that now if applicantshave been inadvertently joined as joint inventors when they are not such in factor have been inadvertently not joined when they should have been, correctioncan now be made. Formerly, the application had to be abandoned and refiled inthe correct name or names, providing, of course, that this was not precluded be-cause of some intervening statutory bar.The author also discusses the now statutorily discarded erroneous court-madelaw requiring "a flash of genius" in the making of a patentable invention. Inaddition, he presents an exposition of the general attributes of inventions whichmake them patentable, and gives a good brief description of patent applicationsand the reasons for the statutory forms and requirements of patents.The chapters on the rights conferred by patents and their enforcement arevery simply and clearly stated. As to the rights, these have not been changedby the new Act, although the statutory terminology has been changed so as toexpress more clearly the rights which are protected. This should be kept inmind when reading these chapters.Patent policies of employers and those who are inventors, either employedor independent, and advice thereon, also are given. This advice even extends tosuggested procedures for the development and the selling of inventions, forkeeping records, and the advisability of proper legal service.* Herbert Fiske Johnson Professor of Industrial Chemistry, Cornell University, Ithaca,N.Y.I Outline of the History of the United States Patent Office, XVIII J. Pat. Off. Soc.(July 1936); HUGIN, PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL TRADE REGULATORY ARRANGEMENTSAND THE ANTITRUST LAws, 117-120 (1949).The book concludes with an appendix of summarized leading cases relatingto patents and uses which have been made of patents. The text refers to thesecases by footnotes, but it might have been more helpful to readers if the materialsin the appendix had been placed in the footnotes and thus have been immediatelyavailable, without necessitating reference to the back of the book. Eventhough the book was written before the new Act, it is still very useful in ex-plaining patent law in a readily understandable, easy-reading exposition. It isrecommended that the book be read in conjunction with a recent article entitled'"he New Patent Statute", Karl B. Lutz, American Bar Association Journal,March 1953, in order to assure against misunderstandings and to note modifica-tions made by the new Patent Act.ADOLPH C. HUGIN**Visiting Professor of Law, Catholic University of America.

ELEMENTS OF PATENT LAW. FRED H. RHOADES.* Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Press, 1949. Pp. ix, 189. $2.75.

https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3089&amp;context=lawreview

ELEMENTS OF PATENT LAW. FRED H. RHOADES.* Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Press, 1949. Pp. ix, 189. $2.75.

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